But when Hollywood has tried to commodify what the Kendricks do, by steering clear of the Biblical literalism and trying to make religious stories palatable for secular crowds, the results have been mixed. Recent releases like “God’s Not Dead” and “Heaven is for Real” have routinely affirmed the power of this audience. “War Room” is hardly the first faith-based film to break out. “Films like this have an intense appeal across a narrow demographic,” said Seth Willenson, an industry consultant. Instead of debuting the film on 2,500 screens or more, as it would a typical wide-release, the studio launched it across 1,135 theaters that were heavily weighted toward the South and Midwest, where the populations are more religious. Sony largely steered clear of wider-reaching platforms such as television and paid email marketing, and opted for a more conservative release pattern. “The word gets out there and people are talking about the movie for many months before it opens. “For the Kendricks, the dialogue is ongoing,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s distribution chief. The brothers shot set videos to keep audiences informed about the production and prepared packets that they sent to churches that included materials that could be incorporated into sermons prior to the film’s release. More important was the work that the Kendricks did to raise awareness. Facebook was particularly active, as the film’s page attracted more than half a million fans, though its presence on Twitter was only marginal. Getting the word out about the picture involved a massive grassroots effort. “I’m not sure it would have been as heart-grabbing if we hadn’t done that.” “When we were working on the plot it just seemed more powerful and passionate when told through the perspective of African-Americans,” said Kendrick. For “War Room,” that translated to a racially diverse opening weekend crowd that was 36% African-American and 42% Caucasian, according to exit data.ĭramatic necessity, not commercial considerations, was at the root of the decision, Kendrick claims. Nearly 90% of African-Americans describe themselves as belonging to a religious group, with six out of ten coming from historically black protestant churches and 15% hailing from evangelical churches, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. That allowed the film to draw from pools of black and white moviegoers, an essential ingredient in its success given that polling shows that African-Americans are more religious than the U.S. It is on pace to be among the Kendrick brothers’ biggest hits, rivaling the $34.5 million brought in by “Courageous” and the $33.5 million generated from “Fireproof.” It also continues Sony’s success with the genre - the studio scored with “Soul Surfer” and “Heaven is for Real,” as well as fielded the Kendricks’ films.Ĭredit for “War Room’s” ticket sales surge goes to its cast of African-Americans. “War Room,” the story of a disintegrating marriage rescued by intense prayer, was produced for a slender $3 million and distributed by Sony’s Affirm division. But our target audience gets them and that’s who we want to draw closer to a walk with God.” “They don’t understand why we make our movies or our worldview. “Critics in Hollywood are rough with us,” said Kendrick. “War Room” has a woeful 18% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics like the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Rechtshaffen dismissing the film as “mighty long-winded and wincingly overwrought.”Īlex Kendrick, a former pastor who handles directing duties on the brothers’ films, said the filmmakers are accustomed to the rough notices.
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